But leaving this and the exquisite scenery of the lawn, we passed on by a winding carriage-road to a short distance to the conservatory. This was 350 feet long, 150 feet wide, and nearly 70 feet high; and when fully completed, is to have an additional length of 150 feet. The roof is an arch, and is covered with plate glass of the best kind, and so thick as to resist the heaviest hail. It is heated by iron tubes of hot water, and to these are added others for cold water, and the whole, if stretched out to a single length, we were informed would extend nearly six miles. The plants and trees here are distributed in open borders, each class being placed in the soil most proper for it, and the temperature so regulated as to suit their natural state as nearly as possible. Not far from the centre is an immense rockery rising about 50 feet high, and from the fissures of the thick slabs of stone that compose it, the cactus and other plants grow out as in their natural state. Half way up this huge precipice is a little lake with islets, and in this, water-lilies and other aquatic plants of the rarest and most beautiful kinds. A wild goat path leads to the top of the rockery, and beneath it is a wide, deep cave. The variety of shrubs and plants in this immense conservatory is very great; some of the trees already reach nearly to the top of the roof, and others presented dimensions gigantic in the extreme for those within a green-house. There are wide folding-doors at each end of the conservatory, and any time he pleases, the Duke can have a drive with his coach and four horses through it. Taking it altogether, it is by far the most magnificent thing of the kind we have ever seen. The whole cost of it is not less than half a million of dollars, which is but a little over the present annual income of its wealthy possessor.
After leaving the conservatory, we took a zig-zag road, and ascended through the forest to the crown of the hill by the octagonal tower. A peasant family was residing here, who permitted us to ascend it to the top. The view from this is no less extensive than beautiful, of Chatsworth and the wild broken country around. Descending from this high perch we had quite a chat with the peasant's wife. She informed us that the tower was built by a predecessor of the present Duke, for the purpose of giving the ladies at the palace an opportunity of seeing the fox-hunting which formerly took place at Chatsworth. Upon taking leave, the good woman directed a little rosy-faced daughter to show us the lakes on the hill, the sources of the cascade and fountains below. After something of a stroll through the woods, we found two large expanses of water belted in by thick rows of the larch and fir, and apparently as isolated as if in a wild forest of our own country. The white swan and the black are kept here, and most other kinds of curious water-fowl. Our pretty guide answered all our inquiries with intelligence, and at parting we gave her a small guerdon, for which she returned a grateful "thank'e zur" and a low courtesy, and then, with the lightness of a young fawn, skipped into the woods, and immediately disappeared. Descending the hill toward the palace we came to the stables. These are very extensive, of quadrangular shape, and large courtyards within. At a distance, with their imposing architecture, they might almost pass for the palace itself.